Government must end ‘wild west’ drone market

The Liberal Democrats have demanded the Conservative Government end the ‘wild west’ drone market and tighten up laws on who can own drones following the disruption caused at Gatwick today.   Speaking after securing an urgent question in the House of Lords, Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesperson, former Welsh Liberal Democrat AM, Jenny Randerson said that the incident at Gatwick “illustrated the frightening ease with which drone vessels can inflict massive damage to our safety, our security and our economy”.   The Liberal Democrat peer urged the Government to set out plans for “proper controls on drones early in 2019”. In response, the Minister accepted the Government must “absolutely introduce new laws” but failed to set out in detail what that would mean and when.   Following the exchange, Jenny Randerson said:    “The failure of Conservative Ministers, despite ample opportunity, to implement tighter regulation on drones has allowed an irresponsible act this morning to cause disruption to thousands of people trying to get home for Christmas.   “It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of drones will be bought as Christmas presents. There is a greater risk to aircraft and public safety than ever before. The rules are ultimately too lax.   “Liberal Democrats demand better. Conservative Ministers must end the wild west drone market, not least by starting with a compulsory registration of drones and compulsory training for all users.”